Looks like we Trumped Red China

His protective tariffs ignited a worldwide backlash against the commies.

The news on Monday morning was dominated by stories of an economic recovery by Red China of a recession that the U.S. press had largely ignored.

Bloomberg reported, “[Red] China’s factory activity beat expectations in March, boosting optimism about the country’s ability to achieve its ambitious growth goal of around 5% this year.

“The Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 51.1 on Monday — above the 50 mark that indicates expansion for a fifth month, the longest streak in more than two years.

“Government data published on Sunday showed manufacturing PMI in March snapped a five-month contraction to rise to the highest in a year. Both numbers beat market expectations, adding to evidence that the country’s industrial sector is building momentum for an economic recovery.”

Trusting Red China numbers is like trusting its statements on covid but the encouraging news is that Red China has — or at least had — a recession. The admission by our Maoist press shows that the communists who run the joint no longer can paper reality over.

Of course, under Biden we no longer can trust our government’s numbers. Maybe we should just give up on compiling numbers because most of them are just polls (or surveys to use their language).

The narrative about Red China has changed dramatically.

John Austin of the Brookings Institute wrote in Time magazine, “Conventional wisdom that [Red[ China’s economy would eclipse the U.S. in a decade—maybe even sooner—is looking uncertain. The view that [Red] China was the emerging geopolitical power, with developing nations tucked under its wings, is looking similarly shaky. It is now unclear whether [Red] China’s GDP will ever surpass the U.S. and nations around the world are rethinking their ties to Beijing and the debt trap that is the Belt and Road Initiative.

“Meanwhile, [Red] China’s population growth is done. Chinese entrepreneurs are leaving the country. Optimism is dimming among Chinese youth. The Chinese stock market is tanking. Foreign direct investment is in freefall, as global business seeks alternatives to the ‘world’s factory’ that don’t come with the same geopolitical risk, and Big State political meddling. The economic indicators are so bad that Beijing is pulling many of them from public view.”

Hmm. Suddenly those inscrutable Chinese are quite scrutable. The only policy Beijing (Red China’s equivalent to Washington) successfully enacted was its One Child policy. That puts Red China ahead of DC by one.

Of course, Red China’s equivalent to the FBI had an easy time forcing compliance because the people have no guns. As NPR politely said, “the policy's enforcement was especially violent.”

Why did the American press start admitting that Red China is in trouble?

Joe Biden. The mission statement of every newsroom this year is Elect Joe Biden because Democracy Dies in Darkness and by golly Ned, the press will make sure it is very dark this year.

So the Time piece said, “As for the U.S., it is chugging along as the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic economy. Inflation is down while jobs, real wages, and productivity are going up.”

Nothing quite says communist dictator like calling your leader Uncle Joe.

In Red China, its recession can be measured in kilowatts and empty factories. The South China Morning Post reported on Monday, “Behind China’s new-energy overcapacity as it changes the face of manufacturing and raises the stakes of competitiveness.”

The story began, “Undeterred by the overcapacity that is looming large in domestic manufacturing, and unfettered by the mounting risks of trade restrictions imposed by the West, Wang Rongshuo has still decided to go big this year — with an all-in expansion of his business in the new-energy sector.”

The story said manufacturing is below 75% capacity. That seems to mean that only three of every four mills are operating. I am a far cry from being an expert but it seems that building a factory is so expensive that you would not build four when you need only three.

So why are those fourth factories idle?

(And I realize that because of the expense of restarting, you might drop use at all four factories to keep them open.)

SCMP said, “Beijing is also facing strong pushback from the United States and the European Union, which have repeatedly raised concerns that their domestic companies have been squeezed out by low-priced Chinese products that have flooded in as manufacturers see overseas markets as the means to help them absorb excess capacity.”

And why is there a strong pushback?

Donald Trump.

6 years ago when we had a real president, he slapped tariffs on Red China, whose apologists in the think tanks immediately mislabeled as a tax on Americans. Um, every Republican president has used tariffs to protect American factories, but never mind, the official revised history of America has him inventing them.

The Tax Foundation said, “The Trump administration imposed nearly $80 billion worth of new taxes on Americans by levying tariffs on thousands of products valued at approximately $380 billion in 2018 and 2019, amounting to one of the largest tax increases in decades.”

Of course, Red China ate most of the tariffs as it wanted to maintain market share. The problem for the communists was under Trump’s leadership, other countries joined in. There is more to the story of Red China’s recession, of course. Spreading covid around the world had a backlash. And communism doesn’t work. But do not discount the role of the wrecking ball we call Donald Trump.

This weekend, the New York Post posted an excerpt of Steven W. Mosher’s new book The Devil and Communist China.

He wrote, “The Trump tariffs—imposed in 2018 and still in place today — set China back on its heels. And the covid debacle deepened China’s economic malaise.

“But most of the wounds have been self-inflicted.

‘The Chinese economy is suffering from a kind of death by a thousand cuts perpetrated by the policies of Xi Jinping, a man who models himself on one of the most monomaniacal — and deadly — communist leaders in human history.”

Reagan took down communist Russia along with Lech Walesa, Margaret Thatcher and Pope Paul II. Trump is taking down Red China with the help of Chairman Xi.